Salt Crusted Burgers and Caramelised Onions

Oh my goodness, guys. I think I totally beat the cheeseburger recipe in terms of Most Delicious Burgers Ever. Also, these were much simpler, which makes it even BETTER. I've been following the blog Stonesoup for a while now, since I decided to learn to make sourdough and found a recipe on Jules' site (for the record, it was incredible, I just never got a good enough photo to post the recipe; if you are interested you can find it here. Also I understand that I have only been posting phone pictures lately which makes that reasoning invalid). The recipes are delightfully simple, and most contain less than 5 ingredients which is so great. The bonus with these burgers is that most of the ingredients I would generally have on hand anyway! Except bread. I've only just started keeping a loaf of bread in the freezer, I don't eat enough to warrant always having a fresh loaf in the house, let alone rolls! (Honestly, though, I live within walking distance of at least three shops so its no big deal to run out and get some, which means this recipe is a-ok with me)

The burgers are really juicy without cooking them in oil, because the salt layer helps the juices to congeal and form a 'crust' on the burger. Is this common knowledge? It should be. I am so impressed with these burgers, you don't even know.

Just a disclaimer on the "quick" tag - the burgers are incredibly quick, the onions not so much - although I came home from work on Tuesday night and had made burgers and 2 onions' worth of caramelised onions in half an hour, so maybe I have unreasonable standards of what quick means. I've split the recipe into the two sections - burgers and onions - in case you're only making one part. Apparently the onions can be kept for about a month in the fridge, but I haven't tried storing them yet.

SALT-CRUSTED BURGERS
Serves 4 in a burger bun - if you're serving them without bread I would add a little extra meat per person, the original recipe called for 400g to serve two people
Total time commitment: 10 minutes
Recipe from Stonesoup

400g minced beef
salt

1. Heat a frypan on really high heat for three minutes. Shape the beef into the desired number of patties.

2. Sprinkle a fine layer of salt over the frypan and place the burgers on top. Cook for 4 minutes then flip, sprinkling more salt on the pan. Cook until they are done to your liking.



CARAMELISED ONION
Makes a lot
Total time commitment: Depends on how much onion you have, but this took me 20-25 minutes and I only waited until a few of the onions had browned.
Recipe from Stonesoup

2 onions, thinly sliced
Balsamic vinegar

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add onions and cook, covered, until the onions are dark brown, stirring every 5 minutes or so. As I mentioned in the time commitment spot, I didn't brown all of the onions because I am both hungry and impatient.

2. Add a few splashes of balsamic vinegar and cook, uncovered, until the onion is soft. I added vinegar until it looked about the right colour, so do whatever works for you.

Friend Zone Food: Cheeseburgers

I'm so sorry about the lack of posting! I've been absolutely swamped with uni work and panto and work, and to be completely honest I've been living on things like baked beans, jacket potatoes, and microwaveable Indian meals. Its the same story as last month though, I've been eating a lot of meals at the "Friend Zone", the nickname we've given the house that Levi and Chris and Briony moved into down the road, so I thought I should add another category for meals I have at their place that someone else has cooked with me (or cooked entirely :P).

Chris and I made these burgers last night when Levi and Briony were still away on a uni trip. If Levi is away it seems remiss to not take advantage of the opportunity to cook something that isn't vegetarian! And when I say Chris and I made them, I mean Chris made them and I picked up hamburger buns on my way there from work. The burgers are from the cookbook What to Cook and How to Cook It by Jane Hornby, which I would absolutely recommend. There are step-by-step photos, and all of the ingredients are set out in a delightfully organised photo at the beginning of each recipe. This is the third or fourth dish we've eaten from that cookbook and everything has been simple to make and really delicious.

These burgers were SO GOOD. I'm going to make them again soon, because they were really great. Before we started I was lamenting that we didn't have any chips with them (because I obviously have attachment issues with not having potato in my meals) but it was so filling that I wouldn't have been able to fit them in anyway!

Also happy birthday shout outs to Tara, who turned 22 on Wednesday, and my cousin Clare whose birthday is today :D

Serves 2
Total time commitment: 30 minutes
Recipe adapted from What to Cook and How to Cook It

1/2 onion
3 small gherkins
250g minced beef
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 egg
Salt and pepper, to season
2 large burger buns
4 slices cheese, to cover patties
Lettuce and tomato, to serve

1. Preheat the grill to high. While its preheating, finely chop the onion and gherkins and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg, mustard, mince and salt and pepper, and mix together.

2. Roughly divide the meat in half and shape into two burgers, about 2cm thick. Our burgers were HUGE but delicious, and they looked silly in the tiny buns, so I would recommend this for the comedic value.

3. Place the burgers onto the grill and cook for ten minutes, flipping halfway through. If they need a little longer, then do that. Whatever floats your burger-loving boat!

4. While the burgers are cooking, slice the tomato and wash the lettuce so you can go for your life when the burgers are ready. Halve the buns as well.

6. Burgers are looking good? Excellent. Put some cheese on top of them, and place the halved buns face up (the face being the cut side) on the grill. Whack everything back in there for another minute or so, just to melt the cheese and brown the buns.

7. Assemble the buns and serve.

Chickpea burgers

I'm back! Hello! I apologise, I've had a lot going on lately. Mainly, saying goodbye to my superawesome grandad (epic sadface), but also happy things like watching Bored to Death and Misfits, rearranging the house, joining an indoor beach volleyball team and starting a new job as a music teacher!

Today, though, I finally got around to cooking something new to post. So that was nice. And I'm planning to keep that up! I've felt guilty about not posting anything, but I haven't exactly been living on blogworthy food, and if I have, I haven't been taking photos. So all in all, that wasn't going too well.

I busted out my new/old food processor for this! Grandad gave it to me a few months ago and this was the first time I've used it. Food processors are the BOMB. I want to use it all the time. Probably because Boy offered to do the dishes so I didn't have to deal with cleaning it, I will keep you updated on my new opinions once I've had to clean it myself :P

I made quite a few substitutions in this recipe (link below), just because I wanted to use things I had on-hand rather than go out and buy more stuff. They worked out really well, in my opinion!

CHICKPEA BURGERS

Original recipe from Adrienneats. 
Makes 6 standard-sized burgers. 
Total time committment: 30-40 minutes.

Olive oil
1/2 small red onion, diced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp curry powder
3 tsp minced garlic
Water
400g chickpeas
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup dry cous cous, cooked*


1. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the diced onion, cumin and curry powder, and saute until translucent. Add garlic and cook for a few more minutes before removing from heat.

2. Place cooked mixture and a small drizzle of water - we're talking the equivalent of juice from one lime - in a food processor and pulse until smooth.

3. Add remaining ingredients and another drizzle of water, and blend until the mixture forms a thick paste.

4. Flour up your hands, because we're about to make some burger patties! Shape the mixture to your desired size and thickness, coating in a little extra flour to stop them from becoming sticky.

5. Either fry or bake the patties, depending on your preference. I baked mine for ten minutes at 180C, and they were crispy but still moist.



*Cous cous can be prepared really quickly while you're frying the onion - Put the 1/4 cup dry cous cous in a bowl, just cover with boiling water, and place a plate over the top of the bowl to keep the moisture in (? is that scientifically correct?) and make it delicious.